CHAPTER V
It took Ramesh nearly three months to settle his father's affairs and to make all preparations for the old ladies' pilgrimage. A few of the neighbours had begun to make advances to the young bride. The loose knot of affection that bound her to Ramesh tightened gradually as the days passed.
The young couple formed a habit of spreading mats on the roof and spending their evenings under the open sky. Ramesh now allowed himself familiarities; he would pounce on the girl from behind, press his hands over her eyes, and draw her head on to his breast. When she fell asleep early in the evening before supper he would startle her into wakefulness and earn himself a scolding. One evening he playfully seized her coiled hair, shook it, and remarked:
"Susila, I don't like the way your hair is done to-day."
The girl sat up. "Look here, why do you all persist in calling me Susila?" she asked. Ramesh stared at her in astonishment, at a loss to know what she meant by this question. "Changing my name won't change my luck," she went on. "I've been unlucky since I was a child and I'll be unlucky all my life."
Ramesh's heart gave a throb of dismay and the colour left his face. The conviction was suddenly forced upon him that there had been a terrible mistake somewhere.
"Why do you say you've been unlucky all your life?" he asked.
"My father died before I was born, and I wasn't
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